The woman on the windowsill : a tale of mystery in several parts / Sylvia Sellers-Garcia.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Sellers-García, Sylvia, Author.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Murder--Guatemala--Case studies.

Murder.

Murder--Guatemala--Guatemala--Case studies.

Homicide investigation--Case studies.

Homicide investigation.

Genre:

Case studies.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (xiv, 281 pages) : illustrations, map

Place of Publication:

New Haven, CT : Yale University Press, [2020]

Language Note:

In English.

Summary:

A true story of violence and punishment that illuminates a transformative moment in Guatemalan history On the morning of July 1, 1800, a surveyor and mapmaker named Cayetano Díaz opened the window of his study in Guatemala City to find a horrific sight: a pair of severed breasts. Offering a meticulously researched and evocative account of the quest to find the perpetrator and understand the motives behind such a brutal act, this volume pinpoints the sensational crime as a watershed moment in Guatemalan history that radically changed the nature of justice and the established social order. Sylvia Sellers-García reveals how this bizarre and macabre event spurred an increased attention to crime that resulted in more forceful policing and reflected important policy decisions not only in Guatemala but across Latin America. This fascinating book is both an engaging criminal case study and a broader consideration of the forces shaping Guatemala City at the brink of the modern era.

Contents:

Introduction. In Which Don Cayetano Díaz Opens His Window

One. Strangers in the Valley: In Which Brígida Arana Seeks Her Missing Daughter

Two. History of Violence: In Which Liberata Bejarano's Cause for Flight Is Revealed

Three. Iconography: In Which the Perpetrator Offers New Evidence

Four. Enlightened Medicine: In Which Dr. Narciso Esparragosa Analyzes the

Five. In Hospital, at Home: In Which Simona Villagrán Is Buried Twice

Six. An Urban Space: In Which the Perpetrator Communicates a Third Time

Seven. Death, Sex, and the City: In Which María Rosa Padilla Is Found in the Morgue

Eight. Bourbon Justice: In Which Liberata Returns

Epilogue. In Which the Window Is Closed.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references (pages 239-270) and index.

Description based on online resource; title from PDF title page (publisher's Web site, viewed 06. Apr 2020)

ISBN:

0300252358

9780300252354

OCLC:

1139881520